Hi Everybody A brand new thread to start your day.

See you all later.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. Didn't do anything special, just went out for dinner.

Peggy: I know where my dh would have been-on the benches with the rest of the men. Another great site. Thanks.

Slavvika: I'd like some p.js. with stars. Sounds so cute. I bet your Princess looked really cute too. You are a very nice Gramma. I am glad tho' that we are not experiencing frosts much any more. I've become a true Florida hot house posy I alos lost a post and am leary of using the backspace.


Trudy: I know what you mean aabout November and December. I used to hate coming home from work and going to work in the dark. And where I lived November was always wet and muddy. Good for you keeping below your goal. I am in the proverbial struggle again.

Lily: I am in agreement with you about the news media. They seem to 'ride on the wave' forever, and when there is nothing new, go to speculation, and what ifs' and I wonders' We don't really need to hear all that stuff, and it is in the guise of the 'peoples right to know' I also get disgusted with the 'leaks' from anonymous sources. Right now we need to have the tightest security possible, and if CNN and the rest can't get what they want, so be it. It made me very nervous when they kept telling the whereabouts of the President that first day of the horror. Sometimes I think our free press gives information to our enemies. I remember a slogan from WW2 'Loose lips sink ships,'
and Ithink we have to practice that idea again. Now I'm off the soap box.


Maria: I know what you mean about sitting and back difficulties. My dh bought me a cushion with an open place at the back so my tailboane doesn't get so much pressure. It works great.

Hi; Glenda. Karen, Geri. Hope I haven't forgotten anyone. Have a great day. Ann

Slavika she used stencils like you use to stencil a wall. I have to go find my embroidery stitch book to see what they called the stitch. It was real simple - just like a tiny running stitch that you go back and wind the thread thru. I am sure that this is as clear as mud. Off to find the book. By the way the poinsettia one was really pretty.

PG'day all,

I have been up since 5.30 am, dh had to catch a flight to Sydney, boy it is a long day just sitting and putting your feet up and thinking of food

I have started giving my feet a bit of a soak in warm salted water and they are looking pretty good other than of course I don't know how that bone is fusing inside my big toes

Lily and Ann I so agree with you about the news and the way it is presented to us. In a very minor way have I experienced some of the inaccuracies when working for a big telecommunications company who everyone chose to hate because it was perceived that they were ripping off the ordinary consumer. Some of the stories that went to air or were printed, were just unbelievable.

Peggy I can just picture all these men on the bench. I also enjoyed seeing the site you posted.

Slavika I went to the site where you can paint your room and tried to download the trial program but unfortunately is was too large. I guess it will be a while before we are home so by that time I might try again.

Have a great day all
Cheers
Maria

Hi everyone...
Did all you gals get the WW e-mail today with that delicious recipe for Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes worth 1 point each? It sure does sound good. I will pick up some cottage cheese tomorrow and try them.
I spent the last 4 hours of my life cleaning out the "dreaded recipe drawer". With the Internet and all the recipe sites available I just don't look in that drawer for new ideas anymore so I went through it and really did throw out a lot. I did find some recipes that I thought I had lost, so that was good.
Glenda I saw the GAP commercial tonight with the guy singing "Forever In Blue Jeans"... that was not the Neil we saw. Our Neil sang just like the real one, honestly you would have a hard time telling the difference. He was that good. Of course, I would still love to see the real Neil Diamond some day.
Maria..my Mom soaked her poor feet in warm salt water too when they started healing. She said it felt just wonderful after. I hope the bones are fusing and you will be up and about really soon.
The media can really get people worked up with all their speculations. It is best to just wait and see what will happen.
I have come down with a cold and I feel just rotten tonight. It is the first cold in about 1 1/2 years so I shouldn't complain too much, but I am anyway.
Wasn't it a beautiful day Slavika? It was a shame to be inside, just it.

Well, I am pooped and ready for bed..goodnight all

hope you are all enjoying whatever kept you away from posting today.

Trudy sorry to hear you have a cold. It is always miserable feeling sniffly and yucky.
I can never work out what the saying is 'starve a cold and feed a fever' or 'starve a fever and feed a cold'. I am sure you will work it out and be feeling much better soon.

Not much happening here, a beautiful day and quite warm and my feet are progressing slowly. Four weeks today and I am due at the doctors again to check on the fusing. I had a look at a few websites this morning and one had a survey on the success of the procedure that I have had done, the success rate was 96% which I thought was very re-assuring.

DH home tonight again from Sydney and dd is arriving back to Melbourne from Adelaide tomorrow. She has been home to finalise her wedding arrangements, all is now organised and we will be sending the invitations in the next few weeks.
I haven't heard much from my sister-in-law, dh has tried to ring his brother a few times but he is too distraught to talk It is all very sad, we have sent her flowers to let her know we are thinking of her.

See ya all tomorrow
Cheers
Maria

DH was not home again today for supper so I was on my own. I told Trudy I ate a whole loaf of Cinnamon bread, toasted with butter. I asked her what she thought the point count on that would be. She said, "if I was alone when I ate it the whole thing counted no more then 5 points". LOL Then she said, "trust me on this one". What do you gals think? (I didn't really eat the WHOLE loaf, but I sure ate lots of it.)

When I was out for lunch/shopping with my friend today we got into a little discussion and I told her I would ask you all what you thought. Here's the story. She was out with friends last weekend and one of her friends told her that her brother (69 yrs old) got married a couple of months ago and is just very very happy. She went on to say, how her brother had been so unhappy and just kind of moping around when his wife had died 5 months ago, but now that he was married again, everything was just wonderful. She went on to say the woman he married was a friend of her brother and his wife (and her husband had died a couple of years ago). My friend said, she told her that her brother should have waited a little longer before getting married again soon after the death of his wife. I agreed. I thought, of course he was unhappy when his wife died, but in time he would have started to feel better. I thought, he maybe could have taken the lady to dinner and spent time with her, but waited a little to marry again. Well the sister apparently was angry that she felt like that and defended her brother, saying he had a right to happiness. So, wise and wonderful that you all are....what are your thoughts on this topic?
I look forward to reading your posts tomrrow. Night all.

Oh Slavika it is so early to ponder this question. I sort of agree with you. I have to wonder why he married again so soon. Was it for companionship, love, or to have someone take care of him. Like to cook and do laundry and all that stuff. Have to think some more on that. If no one saw you eat the bread it is free. That is like eating broken cookies - they have no calories. Trudy if the same miserable cold is going around in Canada that is here I hope you get over it soon. I had the cough forever. It sounded like a smokers cough and would just come upon you suddenly. If I made a cheesecake I would eat the whole thing. Maria how are the feet today? I imagine you are getting antsy just sitting around when you want to be doing things. The wedding is really creeping up isn't it? I bet your dd is excited. Has she had any wedding showers? Have to go get my glasses fixed today. The frame broke last night and they look really attractive scotch taped together. Will come back later,

Slavika - I have pondered your question about remarrying before when it pertained to a good church friend of mine. The man had been married to a lady for 50 years and she was a wonderful, kind of eccentric person and she died over a long time with cancer. He was absolutely wonderful with her. In the meantime a lady I had known forever had a very sick husband who was disabled for many years with MS. He finally died (a blessing)and these two surviving spouses met and married within 6 months of his wife dying. It caused a bit of an uproar, but I felt that, even though they could have waited, that they were the nicest people in the world and they had been so steadfast in their love and support for their spouses and just didn't have a lot of time to waste. They are so happy, doing things with each other they could never do with their spouses because they were sick for so long. So, I say, "good for them!" Sometimes people just need to lead with their heart and not worry about what people say. I hope it works out for your friend's brother.

Maria - hope your feet are doing great. Has it already been 4 weeks? When it isn't you stuck on your rear, time goes fast.
Glenda

Slavika:
Hard question. I think he should of waited and dated for awhile. But Glenda has a very good point. You do have to follow your heart and do want makes you happy and ignore what others say. He's happy now and thats important. I would want my DH to be happy after Im gone and wouldnt want him to mope around either. I would want him to go on and do what he needs to do to make himself happy.
The bread was free and move on

Trudy I didnt get the email on the Chocolate Cheesecakes. Sounds good tho!

Maria: How long is DH gone for this time? Hows the feetsies doing?
I bet time goes by slow when you cant move around like you are use to.

Well work is crazy. I was taking a break but now I must get back. Hi to everybody else!

I tried to put in the link..TWICE..but it didn't work so I just copied and pasted the recipe.

mini chocolate cheesecakes
Prep Time | 10 min
Cook Time | 20 min
Level of Difficulty | Easy

cakes | Chocolate, sweetened cheese, creamy topping – who could resist? Don't worry, there's no need to since our individual cheesecakes are just 1 POINT per piece.




Ingredients

10 piece(s) chocolate wafer(s), crumbled
1 1/2 cup(s) fat-free cottage cheese
1/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup(s) sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium egg white(s)
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup(s) lite whipped topping

Instructions



Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray; divide wafer crumbs among cups.


Cream cottage cheese in a food processor until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients, except whipped topping, and process until smooth, about 30 seconds more. If you do not have a food processor, this can be done with an electric mixer although the final product will not be as smooth and creamy.


Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until firm, about 20 minutes; cool completely. Trace each muffin cup with a knife to loosen cheesecakes, remove from muffin cups and garnish each with 2 teaspoons of whipped topping. Yields one 3-inch cheesecake per serving.


POINTS

Serves | 12
POINTS per serving | 1

G’day all,

I have decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and try and make the most of this enforced ‘rest’. It is a little over 3 weeks since the operation and another 4 weeks before I return to the doctors to check if the bone has fused and hopefully get the green light to do something other than SIT!

Yesterday a sulphur crested cockatoo landed on my balcony unusual to see them so close to the city. I took a photo and have attached it to this posting. I have to make the photo very small to enable me to post it, hope you can still make out the bird and will also notice all the greenery, spring is definitely here!

DD is back in Melbourne and yes before you know it the wedding will be here.
DH returned from Sydney last night, more changes in the wind……………..
It is very easy to just eat a fruit loaf when you are on your own. I count it as 1 point per slice but do not have butter because I am good

As far as your friend Slavika, my initial reaction was ‘cannot he wait’ but then on reading Glenda’s reply I have to now say it depends on the circumstances. When I had breast cancer, an acquaintance who lived nearby had ignored a lump in her breast until after Xmas (4 months after she first discovered the lump) and unfortunately died within a year of going to the doctors. She was my age and it made me sick to see her husband out and about with a young floozy before she had even died. It was unfortunate for him that we saw him on a walk in our area. I am not one to hold back and asked about his wife and then casually mentioned that I had seen him with a young floozy, he was a little embarrassed but said that he had met her at a party and that after all he did have his ‘needs’. I don’t know what their marriage was like but they had been married for 28 years. I always thought her husband was a sleaze and that confirmed it. We moved from the area and I don’t know if he married again.
Our neighbours in Adelaide are our age and have recently married (both were widowed). I don’t know them well but that ‘comfortable I know what she/he thinks’ after a long marriage, isn’t there. They are probably perfectly happy but that is how I perceive it. I cannot imagine marrying again if my dh was to die, I don’t think anyone would put up with me! Not much of an answer to your question Slavika, I guess it depends on the individual.

Melbourne is the home of Australian Rules Football and tomorrow is the big day of the Grand Final. The whole place is buzzing and soon a parade of the players will be coming past where I live. A bit of excitement for this old dear!

Have a great day all
Cheers
Maria

Hi Everybody When my friend first told me the story about the fellow remarring so soon after his wife had passed away I came to the same thought as Maria had, "cannot he wait". When you lose a mate, everything you read says not to make any major changes in your life for at least one year. For example, don't sell your house. I think that when you lose a mate, to grieve and be unhappy is normal and to expect to be otherwise would be foolish. Certainly to marry again as quickly as the fellow in the story did would be a major change. If his wife died 5 months ago and he was already married to the new lady for 2 months, that means he only waited for 3 months. I think too, that other family members would have trouble dealing with the new marriage, especially the children and grandchilren because of course they would still be grieving.

After reading your posts, I realize that perhaps there are circumstances where getting married soon after a mate has died maybe ok, but as a rule I think it would be better for everyone if they just waited a bit longer. Marriage is a big adjustment at any time in your life but I think it would be a MAJOR adjustment if you married again after having lived with your previous mate for 25 or 35 yrears. I think, maybe it would have been better if he allowed himself time to grieve for his wife before remarrying. My Father died 18 years ago on May 31st and he was 69 yrs old and my Mother the following September at age 67yrs. There would have been no way my Mother could even have started a new relationship during those short months, never mind remarry. The fact is, not only was my Mother still grieving for my Father but so were my brother and I.


Maybe if a mate has been sick for a long period of time, you have already grieved, and feel now is the time to get on with living. I guess it truly does depend on the circumstances. I also think that suddenly living alone must be difficult. A friend's Mother died and her Dad was left on his own. One day her and I had picked him up and took him to the Mall with us and for lunch. When we dropped him off at his home he said, "thank you so much you two, you helped me put a hole into this day".

I had read your first post on the subject of the marriage, but wasn't able to get back here to give you my opinion. . Slavika I think that he re-married too soon after his wife's death. I think that a person has to grieve and having a relationship so soon puts that grieving off. At some point he will have to suffer the loss and that could hurt his present marriage. I would think he is trying to fill the empty hours and could regret his decision. His new wife may be hurt in the long run. I agree with you that any children he might have had could be really upset with their father. I have friends and family who lost their mates and the next few years with them were an emotional rollercoaster.
Maria You are almost at the 1/2 way point of your Dr appt. I realize you are just as impatient as we would be, but hang in there, before you know it your DD wedding will be all that is on your mind, ... and of course the gorgeous shoes you will be able to wear. The picture is small but I used a magnifying glass and was able to make out a little white bird. Pretty.
My cold isn't too bad, in fact the 1st day for it was the worst. I am surviving quite nicely.

Have a nice weekend all...

Hi everyone: Weigh-in today was pleasant. I lost the pound I gained last week plus another.2 Progress is noted.

Slavika: Another comment. It is not easy to know the circumstances, for instance how long had the new couple known each other. Were they comfortable as friends before losing their mates. It sounds like it was all sort of 'family' But one thing I can say for sure, men just cannot live alone and cope like women do. It is the nataure of the "beastie". I guess the bottom line is if a couple are happy, then whatever comes, they will work out, even grieving together. Supporting each other. Life can get complicated, but in our later years, I think finding happiness is very important. And most kids want their parents to be happy. I know there are those who make life miserable for their parents new spouses. Have a firend here in the park. Her husbands daughters don't want her around. They are no longer Daddies spoiled little girls, and he is putting his wife ahead of them now and they hate it. And this wasn't even a question of marrying soon after losing their mates.

Trudy: The cheesecakes sound yummy. Will try them. And only one point. Glad your cold is on the mend. I hate the sneezing and all the other yucky stuff that goes with a cold. And I always end up with a cold sore.

Maria: Sound like you are making progress, and coming to terms with inactivity. It can't be easy. And warm salt water is very soothing and healing too.

Karen: What did you talk about today? We worked at self-esteem.

Hi Glenda, Lily, Peggy Geri. Have to stop now and get some supper for my dh. I'll check back. Ann